Field of Application
The present invention relates to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) evaluation apparatus for use in the design of motor vehicles.
Description of Related Art
Present-day motor vehicles incorporate a number of ECUs installed at various locations in the vehicle, having respective functions relating to operations of the vehicle (e.g., control of fuel pump operation, control of operating electrically powered windows, etc.). Each ECU is connected to other electrical equipment of the vehicle via interface circuits and wiring (part of the wiring harness of the vehicle). Techniques are known in the prior art for use when designing vehicles, employing computer processing to determine the layout paths of the wiring harness based on the locations of the ECUs that are installed in the vehicle, and to select various component parts (such as wiring leads, connectors, tubing, etc.,) required in the design of the wiring harness, and also to evaluate amounts of cost and weight of the component parts, and wiring path lengths of the wiring harness. The selection of the component parts is made based upon information concerning the respective locations of the lead paths of the wiring harness (e.g., allowable temperature values, whether waterproofing is necessary, etc.,) and may also be made based on information concerning each of the ECUs which are to be connected to the wiring harness (e.g., whether a stabilized current supply is required by an ECU, etc.,). An example of such a technique for use in designing a wiring harness is described in Japanese patent publication No. 2011-210174.
However with such prior art technology, design of the wiring harness is performed only after functions have been allocated to the respective ECUs. Since the ECUs are located at various positions throughout a vehicle, the allocation of functions to the ECUs has a considerable effect on the design of the wiring harness. Hence, if evaluation processing for designing a suitable wiring harness is performed based on a pre-existing allocation of respective functions to the ECUs, optimum results cannot be expected.